Essential Question

Life in the Old Country: What makes a country a person’s homeland?

Class & Work: How important is work in defining a person’s identity?

Words to look for

Background Information

The United States took control of the Philippines in 1898, after defeating the Philippines’ original colonizer, Spain, in the Spanish American war. From that point until the 1990s the U.S. maintained a strong military presence in the country, stationing troops at Army and Naval bases, even after the Philippines gained their Independence from the U.S. in 1946. Many Filipinos were recruited to join the U.S. Army, Navy, and Coast Guard, and served on these bases.

Transcription

VA: I didn’t work at that time; I was still young. I’m still going to school. But when I get married, when I get my wife with me, my brother-in-law is in the U.S. Army, and he give me a job, as a…

LM: What kind of job was it?

VA: I had to cut firewood, for delivering in the Army, and the houses. That’s the job they gave me.

LM: Do you remember how much you were paid?

VA: I don’t remember but they paid not by the hour, by the day.

LM: Were you paid in pesos?

VA: Yeah, we are getting paid in pesos. That’s like a federal job, federal job. That’s the only job they give me so I can support my family. But I am supported by my parents. I lived with my parents at that time.